Lucky No. 13: Shikhar Dhawan the latest in India's history of debut centurions

New Delhi: Shikhar Dhawan on Saturday became the 13th Indian batsman to mark his debut with a century. But unlike the 12 batsman before him, Dhawan etched his name in the record books by scoring three figures in 85 balls, thus becoming the fastest debut centurion of all time, as well as becoming India's most successful batsman on Test debut.

Dhawan's unbeaten 185 surpassed Gundappa Vishwanath's 137 scored against Australia at Kanpur in 1969 as the highest score by an Indian in his first Test. It was a superb innings, sculpted with some dazzling boundaries all across the PCA Stadium in Mohali. He opened up with some punchy drives and pulls before targeting spinners Nathan Lyon and Xavier Doherty. Dhawan reached his half-century in 50 balls and sped to three figures in 35 more.

The left-hand opener became India's 13th Test debut centurion and surpassed GR Vishwanath's 137 with the highest score by an Indian debutant.

In all, he hit 33 boundaries and two sixes in his 168-ball innings. His superb effort also helped record India's first double-century opening stand in Tests against Australia. Dhawan's superlative effort is so far the sixth highest by a debut batsman and he looks poised to become the fifth batsman to reach 200 on debut.